A Lecture by Dr. Vandana Shiva

Vandana Shiva at VassarWednesday, March 6, 2013Villard Room, Vassar College
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Dr. Vandana Shiva is known for her work on GMO foods, indigenous rights to seed sovereignty, ecofeminism, farmer’s rights, and protection of the earth’s resources. Author of twenty-three books and hundreds of articles, Shiva has become a global figure. Her
awards include the Right to Livelihood Award (also known as the Alternative Nobel Peace Prize), the Global 500 award of the United Nations Environment Program, and the United Nations Earth Day International Award, among many others. The Guardian (U.K.) included her in their list of the 100 most influential feminists in 2011.

Shiva’s passion for ecological sustainability began in the 1970’s with the Chipko Movement, which became the ground for seeing the links between the earth and the provisioning of food, water, and energy for the poor, as well as the links between women and ecology. This led Shiva to develop a philosophy of ecofeminism and organize the movement “Diverse Women for Diversity,” which she views as one expression of combining women’s rights, nature’s rights, and the rights of the Third World, enacting her vision of the interconnections between cultural and biological diversity.

After earning a Ph.D. in physics, Shiva focused on interdisciplinary work and founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology. In 1987, Shiva founded Navdanya to increase understanding about the relationship between democracy, intellectual property, and food security, and also to promote seed saving as an alternative to corporate patenting and genetically engineered seeds.